Symposium for supporting safe and active recreation for Okanagan families with children living with autism

Co-leads:

  • Lise Olsen 
    University of British Columbia – Okanagan
  • Rachelle Hole
    Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship / University of British Columbia
  • Vicki Cairns
    Autism Okanagan Kelowna

Team member:

  • Alison McManus
    University of British Columbia – Okanagan 

Trainee:

  • Matthew Ferrier
    Undergraduate student
  • Zarka Kiktavy
    MSW student
  • Crystal Shannon
    MSN student

This project aims to communicate and stimulate stakeholder interest in developing strategies to better support Okanagan families with autism spectrum disorder children, thus enabling them opportunities to pursue safe and active recreation.

The activity will be a one-day symposium at the Okanagan campus with a proposed date of March 2018. The short term goals are to share research findings and build a stronger network and researcher/practice connections. The long term goals are to build a community of interest, identify and agree on key areas of needed practice and policy change in the Okanagan, and develop a strategy through a funding proposal to enact such changes. Specific objectives of this activity include:

  1. For a symposium planning group to oversee the development of the symposium activities and strategies.
  2. Raising awareness among stakeholders about research in this area.
  3. Providing a forum for interaction between attendees and researchers on this topic.
  4. Providing an opportunity for stakeholders in the Okanagan communities to become involved in developing an ongoing plan based on current research evidence for furthering research and intervention development.